Stramit Opens New Ag-Fiber Panel Facility

Today Stramit USA announced the launch of a material manufacturing company operating out of an 88,000 square-foot facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The company has been working with Stramit UK for 16 months to import the process that creates a proprietary and rigid Compressed Agricultural Fiber (CAF) product — made with agricultural waste wheat straw — that can be used for walls, panels, flooring, doors, and furniture.

The straw that’s used to create CAFboard can be tilled into the earth or burned, but Stramit USA buys bales and runs them through the long machine that’s pictured. The rapidly renewable material is broken and screened of debris and then compressed with heat and pressure into a rigid board that’s wrapped with heavy-duty organic paper.

Stramit USA claims their products can be used as a natural-fiber alternative to fiberglass insulation, gypsum board, medium density fiberboard, particle board, or sound-proofing panels. In addition, CAFboard can be assembled with light-gauge framing, CAFsteel, for a panelized building system.

CAFboard is mold-resistant, pest-resistant, completely organic, and has no added formaldehyde or VOCs, according to Stramit USA. It may contribute to several LEED credits and has an approximate R-value of 3.35 per inch (or two layers of standard 2 1/4″ CAFboard provides an in-place +R15).

Stramit USA will customize and produce CAF to custom specifications. I’ve asked for potential pricing and will update this article upon receipt. Expect pricing to be project-specific in any event, so reach out if you’re interested in the new material.